Singer/songwriter Judy Collins will highlight her 55th release, “Spellbound,” May 10 at Campbell’s Heritage Theatre.
For the first time in her six-decade career, Collins wrote all 13 songs on the album, which came out in February 2022.
“They say after the plague came the Renaissance,” Collins says with a good-natured laugh, referencing the pandemic. “The truth is, I didn’t do an album like this sooner because I had other projects on my mind. This album was necessary for me to keep creative; it was the next piece of the puzzle.
“Now felt like the perfect time to make this record because after all that’s happened in the world, we need something beautiful and inspirational to lift us up.”
Collins took up songwriting since 1966 after Leonard Cohen asked her why she hadn’t yet done so. Her response was to sit down at her Steinway that same day and write, “Since You’ve Asked.”
“Spellbound” is dedicated to folk legends Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. The track “So Alive” documents the 1960s folk boom in Greenwich Village.
The album’s title references a time in Collins’ life when her love of the outdoors almost caused her to become a park ranger. The songs on “Spellbound” revisit the time she spent in the Colorado wilderness as a child and frame more recent time she spent in nature.
Collins’ Campbell concert starts at 8 p.m. at the Heritage Theatre, 1 W. Campbell Ave. Tickets are $34.50-$64.50 at https://www.emporiumpresents.com/event/an-evening-with-judy-collins-2 and $40-$70 on the day of show.
Source: www.mercurynews.com